Taitz has earned notoriety for heading the movement based on the false assertion that President Obama was not born in the United States. She has been censured in court while representing troops who refuse to take orders from the "de facto" president, as she calls Obama.

(JTA) -- The Conservative movement has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's youth and young adult services department has begun a Yellow Balloon campaign to mark the fourth anniversary of Shalit's captivity. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006 and reportedly is being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Helen Thomas quit her job with Hearst in the wake of mounting outrage over her assertion that Israeli Jews should "return" to Poland, Germany and the United States.

"Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring, effective immediately," said a statement issued Monday by the Hearst Corp. "Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the Internet."

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Richard Goldstone was removed from the board of governors of an Israeli university.

Hebrew University confirmed to the Jerusalem Post on June 3 that Goldstone, the ex-South African judge who authored the United Nations-commissioned Goldstone report, was removed recently from the honorary position.

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's Navy killed four men that it said were planning a terror attack at sea.

Early Monday morning, the Navy forces fired on Palestinians wearing diving suits off the coast of Gaza. The men were "on their way to perpetrate a terrorist attack," according to the Israel Defense Forces spokesman. No Israeli forces were hurt.

Chavez called Israel a "cursed terrorist and murderous state" amid shouts of “Long Live Palestine” during a June 1 speech, the day after Israeli Navy commandos boarded a Gaza-bound ship and nine people were killed in the ensuing violence. He also accused Israel of supporting the local opposition against his government.

The Irish-owned ship named the Rachel Corrie, in memory of an American activist who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, was boarded Saturday by Israeli Navy forces 22 miles off the coast of Gaza. The ship was boarded from the sea, and not by helicopters as six flotilla ships were last week, when nine activists on a Turkish-owned ship were killed during clashes with Israeli Navy commandos.

(JTA) -- Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas has issued an apology for saying that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine."

Thomas said Jews living in Israel should "go back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else," during videotaped remarks to Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com on the sidelines of the White House Jewish heritage event on May 27.

The videotape of Thomas's remarks had over 900,000 views as of Sunday morning.